Love & Life
by SammyWriter
Summary: Ally and her family owe a debt of 500,000 to Hunter Green, a greedy loan shark. Lester moves away to find money, while Penny has to quit her job in Africa to help manage Sonic Boom. But... There is another way. If Austin attends MMAS, a music school, and becomes famous, Hunter will let the Dawson's pay off their debt by Austin's fame. Will Austin succeed? AUSLLY!


**A/N: New Auslly fanfic! Enjoy!**

_Prologue_

_Sonic Boom is bankrupt, and Lester has loaned $500,000 from a loan shark. The interest is rising quite fast and Sonic Boom has no way to make that much money in one year, the time when they need to pay up. If not, Sonic Boom as well as their home will be taken. That would force them to move... Far away._

_Lester decides to go to China and tries to make some money[either that or to run away, Ally isn't sure] and puts Penny, Ally's mom, in charge of Sonic Boom. _

_The deadline is coming up fast and Hunter, the loan shark, gets impatient. Very impatient. _

_He later finds out that Austin is an overnight Internet sensation. A plan brews up in his mind..._

* * *

"Hello, Ally." Hunter greets. He's about six feet, dressed in a black suit and blue satin tie. He has tan skin and a short buzz cut. He's in his mid 30's. I guess e could be considered good looking, if he wasn't so evil.

"What do you want, Hunter?" Mom says coldy. It's unusual for him to just pop up at Sonic Boom... Unless he wants something...

"Oh, nothing much."

I lift my eyebrows questioningly.

"But..." He trails.

A frown spread across my face.

"I hear you're good friends with Austin Moon." He says finally, revealing why he came.

"Yeah, so? What's that gotta do with you?" I reply.

"I was thinking... Maybe there's another way for you to pay off your debts... As long as he cooperates."

My frown increases. This is a family problem. To pull Austin into the situation... That was asking a bit much.

"What do you mean 'cooperate'?" I ask.

"If he goes to this school," he hands me a professional looking brochure with elaborate pictures," Then he can make lots of money for m- ah, I mean, he can get even more famous."

I frown even more, if that's even possible. "What's in it for you?" This was the same exact strategy he used on my dad.

"Oh, just 85% of the money he makes after this place," he taps on the brochure," makes him a huge popstar." He throws out casually.

"No way, Hunter." I say firmly.

"I will pay for all the fees and everything you need, but when the dough starts rolling in," he rubs his fingers together," I get 85%, until you and your family pays off your debt. Plus interest, that is."

The idea of it was so tempting. Austin going to some place to get famous and all Justin Bieber like, us paying off our debt, it's a win win. But to ask Austin to do something like this, it's something that I need to think about.

But why did Hunter take this approach? He could just wait for us to get the money... Or maybe... He wants publicity... Through Austin... As his sponsor...

Nah...

But still...

"I- I'll think about Hunter."

"Good, good." He says, rubbing his chin. A greedy look is on his face. "Well, you know how to reach me. Make a wise decision, Dawson. Your life may be at stake."

I look outside the store doors. A huge banner that announces we are holding our store on a payment to a loan shark hangs right below the Sonic Boom sign. It has his number hugely written across.

"Okay." I say stoutly.

He walks out the door and snaps his fingers. A sleek black Mercedes Benz pulls up and the driver opens the door for Hunter. He jumps in, and the car shakes. That dude seriously needs to go on a diet. Or get a personal trainer. That guy is rich!

I coldy watch him leave and turn back behind me. Mom is at the counter. She seems to be processing everything that happened. I can tell she's thinking about how she had to leave the job she loved so much to be here. This horrible, deadly, used to be awesome music store. She's probably tempted to take up the offer too.

Then I look at the back of the store. Something is there, moving. My hopes got up. A customer? Business is slow nowadays, especially because of the huge banner. Going into a store with a loan shark's number across the entrance isn't exactly a warm welcome.

"Hello?" I call out.

No reply. I walk towards the back cautiously. Maybe it wasn't a customer...

I get closer and hear whispering.

"Aha!" I jump towards the figure.

"Ahh!" I hear them scream.

I sigh as I see who it is. "What are you guys doing back there?"

Austin and Dez slowly come out of their hiding.

"I heard about what the Hunter guy said..." Austin trails off.

"Oh, you did? Don't worry. I wasn't planning on letting you go anyways. No, I won't let you go. We'll pay off the debt on our own."

The brochure is still in my hands. Austin quickly attempts to grab it, but Trish beats him.

I turn around. "Where'd you come from?" I ask. She's covered in souvenir cups and merch.

"Guess who got a job at the Paper Clip Center?" She says, trying to change the subject.

"Is that a place where they sell 3 foot paper clips? I need a couple." Dez says. He seems to be very interested.

"Um, no. It's a stage. For performing." She says. "Now, what's this brochure?" She breaks the seal and opens it up.

We all crowd around, curious of what info it contains.

So it turns out it was a brochure for a school. Miami Music and Arts School. MMAS for short. It's a really expensive school to go to, but all the students have the same goal: to get world-wide famous.

Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber, most of the famous people.

Anyways, it's highly educational, and offers a wide variety of classes.

"This school sounds pretty cool!" Austin said, breaking the silence.

"I guess..." I say.

"You should totally go, Austin!" Trish says.

"I should totally go." Dez says.

"You?" I ask.

"Yeah. I have the money. I bet they have a directing class, right?"

"Hmm..." I look at the brochure. "Yeah I think so." But how did Dez have the money? From what he told us, he's pretty poor. Tuition is $7,000 per month, not including food, dorms, and a lot of other things.

"Anyways Ally, I think I should go. It's a pretty good school, and I can pay off your debt. I want to help you Ally." Austin offers.

"I know you want to help Austin, but it's too much of a favor. I couldn't ask you to do this much."

"You don't have to ask me. I want to." He smiles at me.

My heart flutters and I can hear my heartbeat. I try to keep my cool. "Thanks Austin... I'll... Think about it. "

"I'm not gonna take no as an answer. This could solve all of your problems. "

"This could solve all of your problems." The words rang through my head over and over and over the night after Hunter's visit.

I thought about dad and how he moved to China temporarily.

I thought about mom and how she had to quit the job she loved so much.

I thought about all the things I had to sacrifice. Then I thought about what would happen if he moved to MMAS a new school, a new life.

But as awesome as it seemed, I then thought about how much of a burden it would put on Austin. Even if he went to the school, he might not become famous. All the famous people were special. What if Austin didn't have that specialness?

I bet Hunter would make him owe a debt as well, considering that he was the one who was going to pay for the school. If Austin didn't make it, then Hunter would've paid for nothing, just a kid he didn't know's education. That was something he probably really hated.

Then I thought about how Sonic Boom could never ever positively ever make 500,000 in a year, plus interest. Our interest rate right now is 25%. It's already been six months, with only a year left. So the real total of our debt is $625,000.

After two hours of laying in bed thinking, I make my decision. I know what I have to do, as sad as it may seem. I'm sorry Austin.

* * *

It's Sunday morning and the weight of the news I have to tell Austin is killing me.

I wake up, brush my teeth and dress.

I end up wearing a peachy pink sundress with a jean vest. A similar pink headband with a fake flower is in my hair along with silver wedges.

Satisfied with my outfit, I toss my iPhone, a pack of tissue, earphones and songbook into my red Hart bag.

I take a deep breath and walk out the door.

It's still summer, but almost fall. According to the brochure, MMAS would start in about two weeks from now. The thought of transitioning to a new school scared me. Poor Austin.

As soon as I arrive at Sonic Boom, Austin and Dez ask me a zillion questions.

"Did you make up your mind?"

"Am I going to MMAS?"

"Have you talked to Hunter?"

"Do you still have the brochure?"

"Can I see your song book?"

"I'm hungry."

I attempt to answer all of the questions. "Yes, yes, no, yes, no, okay cool me too."

"Whaaaa?" They say in unison.

"Oh you're hungry?" Dez asks. "Here's some cereal." He handed me a bowl of frosted flakes with warm milk.

"Thanks Dez. I forgot all about breakfast." I say, grabbing the bowl.

"So am I going to MMAS?" Austin asks.

"Um," I munch on my cereal. "Mmmm. This is some good cereal." I tease.

"Ally!" He whines. "Tell me!"

"Soooo good. Mmmm nom nom nom..."

"ALLYYY!"

"Okay okay geez. Yes, you're going."

Austin and Dez turn to each other. "What up?" They say. Their "secret handshake" as they like to call it. Austin may be famous, but he's still like a kid sometimes.

But then there's other times where he's so cute. And other times when he's cool. And other times where-wait. Why am I thinking about Austin? He is just a friend. Nothing more and nothing less. Hopefully nothing less...

"But Austin, are you sure you want to go there? I mean, it's obvious that Hunter is trying to take advantage of you for the money you'll make." I say.

"Who cares? It sounds fun." He says with his goofy grin.

"Okay... Did you ask your parents?" I ask worriedly.

"Yeah. They're fine with it for the most part."

"Good. I'll talk to Hunter."

He winks at me and I turn around to walk out the door, rather briskly.

He just winked at me. Did that mean something? Okay, obviously not. Austin is only a friend. Only a friend.

I look up at the huge banner and dial Hunter's number.

"What are you doing Ally?" Trish asks.

"About to call Hunter. I've made the decision. He's going to MMAS."

"Oh okay. You do realize this means we won't really see him anymore, right? Doesn't MMAS make you stay at the dorms?"

"I think that's optional." But I know where she's getting at. She means we will drift apart. He wouldn't need me as a songwriter as much since he would be gone for most of the time. Homework was intense over there, or so it says in the brochure.

"But still Ally.. Think about it."

"I... I am..." I bite my lip. An old habit I did when I was thinking hard.

My phone has turned off so I turn it on and redial.

"Hello? Hunter?" I call out after the phone seems to have picked up.

"Yes, this is he. Who is this?" He asks.

"It's Ally. Ally Dawson."

"Oh, Ally. Have you thought about my most generous offer?" He says. His deep voice creeps me out.

"Yeah... About that... Yes. Austin will join. But..."

"But what, Dawson? You know I don't like to play around with tricks."

"I know. But... Well..." Thoughts about what Trish had said circled around my head. We would drift apart. Then I thought about my feelings for him.

"Well?"

"Well... If Austin goes, I go too. I _have_ to go. We won't be separated." I say shakily," I like him too much to let him go."

I turn around to face the entrance of Sonic Boom. Austin is right in front of me, staring with a pancake half in his mouth.

* * *

**Me: Cliff hangers! Yay!**

**Ally: Sammyyyy! You totally made me look like a fool in front of Austin!**

**Me: oh so you're embarrassed?**

**Ally: no... Well... Yeah... Kinda... Sorta...**

**Me: dude. You are so into him. **

**Ally: maybe?**

**Me: just admit it Ally. Anyways guys, please review! Was that too long or too short of a chapter? When you review, please tell me! Constructive criticism, suggestions, anything!**

**1 review: I update in 1-2 days. **


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